


Blame It On The [Painkillers]

by OneTrueEmotion



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Literal Sleeping Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Soft Boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 18:06:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17923739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneTrueEmotion/pseuds/OneTrueEmotion
Summary: “I’m taking you to my house until you’re feeling better.”“Oh. That’s nice. I like your house.”“Yeah?”“Mhmm. It’s warm and happy and it smells like you and it makes me happy.”Eddie flushed a little, and then sternly reminded himself that Buck was high and probably didn’t mean it the way Eddie took it. “Well I’m glad.”---Featuring a broken arm, some painkillers, and an accidental love confession.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted by an anon on tumblr:
>
>> okay but what about buck getting hurt on a call and getting dosed up on pain meds and accidentally telling eddie that he loves him without realising it and eddies just like ‘I hope to god you remember this when your better you dumbass because I love you too and we are definitely talking about this later’

Eddie didn’t really have a choice. Maddie and Chimney just left on vacation, he wasn’t about to impose on Hen or Bobby and their families, and the doctor wouldn’t discharge Buck without an assurance that somebody would be able to keep an eye on him for at least 24 hours. So he was coming home with Eddie.

“Where we goin?” Buck mumbled from the passenger seat of Eddie’s truck. Eddie had explained it while they were at the hospital, but the painkillers they gave him were strong.

“I’m taking you to my house until you’re feeling better.”

“Oh. That’s nice. I like your house.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhmm. It’s warm and happy and it smells like you and it makes me happy.”

Eddie flushed a little, and then sternly reminded himself that Buck was high and probably didn’t mean it the way Eddie took it. “Well I’m glad.”

“Hey Eddie?”

“Yeah Buck?”

“I feel really happy right now.”

They came to a red light so Eddie glanced over at Buck and he was pretty sure his heart actually skipped a beat. The way the streetlights illuminated his face, the gentle, almost dreamy look Buck was wearing as he looked at Eddie was breathtaking. Eddie couldn’t look away from the soft smile that slowly grew on his face until the car behind him honked and he realized the light had turned green. He gave his head a shake as he continued driving. “It’s probably all the drugs they got you on,” he said, to remind himself as much as Buck.

There was no response, and when he glanced over again Buck’s eyes were closed and there was a bit of drool coming out of the corner of his open mouth. Of course.

Buck was snoring softly when Eddie pulled up to the house, and he almost felt bad about waking him up when he went around to the passenger side. Buck blinked a few times and then his eyes focused on Eddie and he smiled. “Hi Eddie!”

“Hey bud, let’s get you in the house.” He helped Buck out of the truck, being careful around his broken arm.

“Are we at your house? I like your house.”

“You mentioned that. Come on, let’s go.” He went around to Buck’s uninjured side so he could use him for support, and he was pretty sure Buck sighed when he wrapped his arm around Buck’s waist. He helped Buck into the house and then towards his room.

“Are you taking me to your bedroom?” Buck asked, and the way he said it made Eddie blush.

“Just to find you some clothes to sleep in.”

“Oh.”

He sat Buck on his bed and went to his dresser. Just as he grabbed a couple things for Buck to wear he heard Buck fall back on his bed and let out a groan of pain. Eddie rushed over to his bed and leaned over Buck, his eyes squeezed shut in pain. “Hey, you okay?”

“My arm hurts? Why does my arm hurt?”

“You broke it trying to be a hero and saving some kids’ cat today.”

“Is the cat okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.” Buck smiled and opened his eyes and only then did Eddie realize how close he was hovering, when Buck’s eyes widened. “Eddie are you gonna kiss me?”

“What? No.” He pulled back quickly, trying not to think about doing exactly that.

“Oh. That’s unfortunate.”

“What?”

“Huh?” Buck seemed genuinely confused, so Eddie let it drop because he probably didn’t even mean it. This was going to be a hard night.

“I got you some clothes to sleep in. I’ll let you get changed while I set up some blankets on the couch.” He helped Buck sit up and then went out to the living room, grabbing a few blankets and a pillow from the hall closet. Once everything was set up he went back to his room, only to find Buck sitting in the exact same position, but with his shirt halfway up his torso on one side, frowning.

“I can’t.”

Eddie wanted to kick himself for being so dumb. How did he expect Buck, while high on painkillers and his arm in a cast and sling, to be able to get changed by himself? And then he realized exactly what that meant.

“Here, I’ll help you.”

This wasn’t at all how he had imagined undressing Buck for the first time. And he had imagined it a lot. He had to help Buck pull his good arm out of the shirt first, then carefully bring it over his head and down over his cast. He tried to think about it clinically, but the intense eye contact Buck was maintaining was making that very difficult. After he helped Buck into the tank top he had picked out, he realized that was the easy part.

“Stand up.” Eddie helped Buck get to his feet, and then knelt down in front of him. He could do this. He could be professional about undressing his best friend slash guy he’s secretly in love with without making it weird. At least until Buck wobbled a little and put a hand on Eddie’s shoulder to steady himself. Eddie looked up at Buck and instantly regretted it because looking at him from this angle was making him feel all sorts of things. But he had to push all of that to the side because this was definitely not the time. He made quick work of removing Buck’s pants and helping him into the pajama pants, and then Buck practically threw himself onto the bed. “Hey, come on, I got the couch set up for you.”

“Wanna sleep here,” Buck mumbled, pulling away from Eddie’s attempts to help him back on his feet.

Eddie sighed. “Fine, I’ll go sleep on the couch.”

“No.” Buck grabbed Eddie’s arm. “Wanna sleep here with you.”

Eddie had to take a couple deep breaths because this? This is not how he saw his night going.

“Okay, fine. At least get under the sheets.” He helped get Buck situated in the bed and tucked him in, changed into his own sleepwear, and crawled into the other side of the bed.

As soon as he was situated, Buck turned over and clung to him like a magnet, resting his head on Eddie’s chest. “You’re the best,” Buck mumbled.

Eddie brought his hand up to stroke Buck’s hair, allowing himself this moment to feel what it would be like if Buck was his. “You’re pretty great yourself.”

“Mmm. I love you.”

“I love you t– wait, what?”

“Hmm?” Buck rolled his head back to look up at Eddie with that intoxicated smile.

“Did you mean what you just said?”

Buck stared at him blankly for a second. “I don’t remember. But probably.” He closed his eyes and nuzzled back into Eddie’s chest, and within seconds was breathing deeply in sleep.

Eddie probably wasn’t going to get much sleep tonight. He was probably going to spend the whole night thinking about what Buck said and wondering if he meant it. But one thing was for sure, they were definitely talking about this in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whether or not there were still any drugs in his system, Buck still blamed them for the way he suddenly went speechless. It definitely wasn't the way Eddie's soft hair fell across his forehead, or the soft smile on his face. Why was everything suddenly soft? Buck felt like his brain was going soft.
> 
> \---
> 
> In which Buck has no idea what happened last night, but Eddie is more than happy to fill him in.

The first thing Buck became aware of as he woke up was the throbbing pain in his arm. It fucking hurt, and as much as he wanted to go back to sleep and continue the dream he'd been having he knew he wouldn't be able to. The next thing he became aware of was the fact that the scent of Eddie was not, in fact, some remnant of said dream but was very real, clinging to the pillow that his face was smushed into. He inhaled deeply and nuzzled even further into the pillow.

Eddie's pillow. Presumably on Eddie's bed. Buck jerked upright, or at least tried to, but the pain in his arm flared up intensely so he fell back into the bed with a groan. He took a moment to breathe through the pain and then sat up more slowly, taking stock of his surroundings. Yup, he was definitely in Eddie's bedroom. With no recollection of how or why he was there.

It wasn't that he was worried that anything had happened. He clearly wasn't in any state for anything like that last night. But he was very worried about what he may have said for him to have ended up in Eddie's bed instead of the couch where he usually slept when he crashed here. Especially since he knew from experience that he had zero filter when he was high on painkillers. He really hoped he hadn't said anything embarrassing to Eddie last night.

As if Buck's thoughts had conjured him, Eddie came into the room at that moment with a glass of water in one hand and a bottle of pills in the other. “Good, you're awake. You were supposed to take these half an hour ago but you just looked so peaceful, I couldn't wake you.”

Whether or not there were still any drugs in his system, Buck still blamed them for the way he suddenly went speechless. It definitely wasn't the way Eddie's soft hair fell across his forehead, or the soft smile on his face. Why was everything suddenly soft? Buck felt like his brain was going soft.

Eddie mistook his silence and his smile fell away into a frown. “Does it hurt a lot? I'm sorry, I should have woken you.”

“No, it's not that bad,” Buck said, you know, like a liar. He just didn't want to be the reason Eddie's smile went away.

Eddie gave him a look like he didn't quite believe him, but the smile came back so Buck counted it as a win. And then Eddie came and sat on the edge of the bed right in front of Buck and that fuzzy feeling came back in his brain. He put the glass of water on the nightstand and opened the pill bottle. Then he took Buck's hand and turned it palm up, shaking two pills onto it. Was Buck imagining things or did Eddie's hand linger on his longer than necessary?

He waited for Buck to toss back the pills then handed him the water to wash them down. “Thanks,” Buck managed to get out, expecting Eddie to leave now that his nursing duties were done but he didn't. 

“How are you feeling?” Eddie put one hand on Buck's thigh and squeezed it comfortingly. 

Slightly turned on, possibly embarrassed, very sore, Buck said in his head. “Tired,” he said out loud.

“That's not surprising. Takes a lot of energy to fix a broken arm.”

Buck finished the glass of water and Eddie took the glass from him and set it back down on the nightstand, at which point Buck noticed the time. “Shouldn't you be at work.”

“Somebody had to stay with you. I volunteered and Bobby found someone to cover my shift.”

“Oh. That was nice.”

Eddie shrugged. “It's what you do for the people you care about.”

The statement felt weighted and Buck didn't know how to respond.

After a minute Eddie patted Buck's leg. “Anyways, you should get some more rest. I'll be in the living room if you need anything.” And with that he was gone.

Buck tried to go back to sleep, he really did. But between Eddie’s scent surrounding him and the lingering feeling of his hand on Buck's leg he couldn't shut his brain off. He couldn't stop thinking about the tender way he looked at Buck, the way he was taking care of him. The feeling of Eddie's arms wrapped around Buck, one hand rubbing his back.

… that must have been some dream he had.

Eventually he gave up and wandered out into the living room where Eddie was sitting on the couch folding laundry while a sitcom played on the tv. On the chair next to him sat a pile of folded blankets and a pillow, indicating that the couch had been made up for someone to sleep in. 

“Sorry I made you sleep on the couch last night.”

Eddie glanced up and gave him an odd look. “You didn't.”

“Well, I mean, you didn't have to give up your bed for me.”

“You really don't remember, do you?”

Oh no. “Oh God. What did I say?”

At least Eddie was smiling, so it couldn't have been that bad. “You told me you liked my house because it was warm and happy and smelled like me.”

Well that was true and also pretty embarrassing. But obviously that wasn't the end of it because that didn't explain the sleeping arrangement. “And?”

“And you insisted on sleeping in my bed, with me.”

“Oh.” Buck cursed his face for blushing, but Eddie was still smiling at him fondly. “So we…”

“Fell asleep with you clinging to me like an octopus? Yup.”

Buck groaned and covered his face with his good hand. “Please tell me that was the end of it.”

Eddie didn't respond but Buck heard him move off the couch, and when he peeked through his fingers Eddie was standing in front of him. He reached up and gently pulled Buck's hand away from his face, and then didn't let go. “You might have also told me that you loved me.”

“Oh.” Buck's mouth went dry and his heart was racing. The drugs must have been making him dumb, or maybe it was Eddie's thumb making soft circles on his hand, because Buck couldn't think of a single thing to say.

Thankfully Eddie took pity on him and broke the silence. “And I was wondering if that was true, or if that was just the drugs talking?”

“I, uh…”

“Because I might have told you I loved you too.”

Warmth bloomed in Buck's chest. “Really?”

Eddie nodded. “Mhmm. So?”

“It's true. I mean the drugs made me say it, but it's definitely true.”

“Good.” Eddie smiled and squeezed his hand. “It's true for me too.” This time Buck could confirm it was definitely Eddie's smile, not the drugs, that was making him weak in the knees. “Can I kiss you now?”

“Yes. Please.”

Without letting go of Buck's hand, Eddie moved his other hand up to cup Buck's cheek. He moved towards Buck, agonizingly slowly, until Buck got impatient and quickly closed the distance between their lips. The kiss was soft and sweet and perfect, but Buck wanted more but just as he tried to push it deeper Eddie pulled back.

“Come on,” Buck groaned, trying to chase after Eddie's lips, but Eddie stopped him by moving his hand and pressing his thumb to Buck's lips. To which Buck retaliated by licking and gently sucking on the pad of Eddie's thumb.

Eddie drew in a sharp breath and closed his eyes, pressed his forehead to Buck's but still kept his thumb firmly in place between their lips. “We can continue this when you aren't high on painkillers anymore.”

“I'm not. I'm fine.” They both knew it was a lie, but he had to try.

“You really should be resting still, anyways.” Eddie took his hand from Buck's face and ran it through his hair, briefly cupping the back of his head. “Let's get you back in bed.” He started moving back towards his room, pulling Buck behind him.

“I couldn't sleep before, and I definitely won't be able to sleep now,” Buck pouted. He just wanted to kiss Eddie more.

“I think I have a solution for that.” When they reached his room Eddie went over and got on his bed, gesturing for Buck to join him. He arranged their bodies so that Buck's head was laying on his chest, casted arm lying comfortably across his torso. Buck threw his one leg over Eddie's and snuggled in, breathing in his intoxicating scent and closed his eyes. He hadn't really expected it to work, but when Eddie started running his fingers through Buck's hair he could feel his consciousness begin to drift.

Just before he lost it completely, he felt Eddie's lips press gently against his head. “I love you.”

Buck wanted to say it back, but he couldn't quite get his mouth to work. With his last thought before sleep took him he realized that it was okay, because he would have plenty of opportunities to tell Eddie he loved him in their future together.


End file.
